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The great sea battle of Vågen | Det store sjøslaget på Vågen
I translated three newspaper articles for practice, but after looking over them, I decided to only post the most detailed one, because most of the information is pretty much the same throughout. It was a very fun and interesting experiment, though, and I am glad that I decided to take the time to translate all three.
Brief summary of the conflict:
The Battle of Vågen took place in 1665, and was part of the Second Anglo-Dutch War. A fleet of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) had sought port in Vågen harbour at Bergen, and an English naval fleet attacked it there. The military forces in the Norwegian fortress, Bergenhus, were supposed to be under secret orders from the Danish king to aid the English, or at least not hinder their attack. However, Bergenhus did not receive the order to help the English, and they aided the Dutch, their actual allies, instead.
The Wikipedia article about this battle is pretty detailed, for those who would like to learn more.
Anyway, here's my translation.
Article written: December 30th, 2012 by Tor Sponga (graphics) and John Lindebotten
Originally posted in Bergens Tidende. Google webcache link: Det store sjøslaget på Vågen
Translated into English by Yuuago in September 2018
The great sea battle of Vågen
It was a proper plundering that Frederik III of Denmark-Norway and Charles II of England planned together in the summer of 1665. But something went wrong.
–The two monarchs entered into an agreement that an English war fleet would attack and secure a large fleet of Dutch merchant ships that had sought port in Vågen harbour, Bergen. 10 ships loaded with luxuries were on their way to Bergen from East India, specifically the area now known as Indonesia. The ships' load was appraised at 300 tonnes of gold, or 30 million riksdalers. In comparison, the collected Danish-Norwegian state budget at the time was 1.2 million riksdalers, says university librarian Bjørn Arvid Bagge.
Incredible riches
Bjørn Arvid Bagge is a trained historian and has researched the events that led to the fabled battle at Vågen on the 2nd of August, 1665. The story has been told in a richly illustrated book that came out in early summer, in which Bagge places the battle of Vågen into its broader political context.
–It was, therefore, a mass of riches that collected at Vågen in Bergen. And there were additionally around 50 ships from merchants of the Mediterranean waiting in Vågen harbour. One can suppose that the cargo in these ships corresponds to the load on the ships from the East Indies, says Bagge.
Equal shares
–When the mission was complete, and the Dutch merchant ships were secure in English hands, Frederik and Charles would share the loot between them.
That was the plan toward the end of July, when the Dutch VOC fleet anchored in Bergen, after first having been in Bakkasund to acquire fresh provisions. Only a couple of days later, the English naval fleet also arrived, and on the evening of August 1st the English anchored in Bergen. They anchored up and took position in such a way that they blocked off the entrance to Vågen harbour. Over 60 Dutch ships loaded with enormous riches were caught in the trap, without a chance to escape.
Trapped
The English naval attack consisted of 17 ships. Of those, 10 were warships, four armed merchant ships, one smaller ship and two fireships. The number of cannons was 580, and the ships had collectively a crew of 2570 men.
Inside Vågen harbour lay the recently-anchored ships. The ten from the VOC fleet were closest to the exit, with only a short distance to the English warships. These ships had cannons on board, but they were first and foremost merchant ships, so all in all it seemed like the Englishmen would have it easy.
The cannons of Bergenhus
–That isn't how it was supposed to go, says Bjørn Arvik Bagge.
–A third party, the Bergenhus fortress, was also in play. The Englishmen had contact with the fortress to keep it inactive. The General, Claus von Ahlefeldt, requested the Englishmen to wait for a longer time to attack until he received further orders from Copenhagen. Ahlefeldt's clear message to the Englishmen and the Dutch was that the first to open fire would be attacked by the fortress. The fortifications in and around Bergen were equipped with collectively 125 cannons.
Blinded by smoke
–On the morning of the second of August, the Englishmen had enough of the attempts by the Bergenhus fortress to bide its time. At 6 AM three shots were discharged from the admiral ship Revenge, and thus the battle began. But the Bergen weather was not on the Englishmen's side. There was a southerly wind and rain. Cannon smoke was pushed back and inward to the English ships, and blinded the cannon crews.
The Dutch ships in Vågen harbour answered the English cannon fire. They had the wind at their backs, and had good visibility. After a while the English were also fired upon from the fortresses, both from Bergenhus and from Nordnes. The English fleet were thereby under fire from several sides. At ten o'clock in the morning, after three and a half hours of naval battle, the English retreated with heavy losses.
Help came
–The extent of the damage and the total dead and wounded on both sides does not match. But if we compare the different information that exists, five English ships received heavy damage, 112 died, and over 300 were injured.
–Of the Dutch side, one ship was sinking, and several others were damaged. 25 Dutch were dead and 70 injured.
Even though the English fleet had left Bergen with their tail between their legs, it did not leave the Dutch in Vågen entirely safe from a new English attack. But that did not matter. On the 20th of August, three Dutch warships came into Bergen harbor to escort 60 merchant ships out to the coast. There awaited the great Dutch admiral, Michiel Adriaanszoon de Ruyter, with a fleet of 90 ships that lead the VOC merchant ships on the way home.
Translator's Notes:
+ "Forskningsarbeidene har munnet" translates more directly as "the research work has been mouthed". I wasn't sure what to do with this turn of phrase, because this use of mouth as a verb doesn't appear in any of my dictionaries, so I settled for what seemed a decent English equivalent in the form of "the story has been told" – but suggestions for something better are welcome.
+ "lasten på skiene fra Østindia" – All of the sources I could find for the term "skiene" say that it means "skis"; I'm unsure if this is specialized terminology, a regional variation, or an error in the article's text. Insight into this would be welcome. Either way, it's clearly talking about ships.
+ "Omfanget av skadene og antallet drepte og sårede på begge sider spriker" - spriker seems to be Nynorsk or a regionalism; present form of sprikja/sprika. It can mean "sprawling" or "out of joint". Because the context is discussing differences in reported number of casualties – see the number of losses listed in the Wikipedia article* for an idea of the disparity – I decided to go with the latter meaning. Corrections or more information would be welcome.
Brief summary of the conflict:
The Battle of Vågen took place in 1665, and was part of the Second Anglo-Dutch War. A fleet of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) had sought port in Vågen harbour at Bergen, and an English naval fleet attacked it there. The military forces in the Norwegian fortress, Bergenhus, were supposed to be under secret orders from the Danish king to aid the English, or at least not hinder their attack. However, Bergenhus did not receive the order to help the English, and they aided the Dutch, their actual allies, instead.
The Wikipedia article about this battle is pretty detailed, for those who would like to learn more.
Anyway, here's my translation.
Article written: December 30th, 2012 by Tor Sponga (graphics) and John Lindebotten
Originally posted in Bergens Tidende. Google webcache link: Det store sjøslaget på Vågen
Translated into English by Yuuago in September 2018
The great sea battle of Vågen
It was a proper plundering that Frederik III of Denmark-Norway and Charles II of England planned together in the summer of 1665. But something went wrong.
–The two monarchs entered into an agreement that an English war fleet would attack and secure a large fleet of Dutch merchant ships that had sought port in Vågen harbour, Bergen. 10 ships loaded with luxuries were on their way to Bergen from East India, specifically the area now known as Indonesia. The ships' load was appraised at 300 tonnes of gold, or 30 million riksdalers. In comparison, the collected Danish-Norwegian state budget at the time was 1.2 million riksdalers, says university librarian Bjørn Arvid Bagge.
Incredible riches
Bjørn Arvid Bagge is a trained historian and has researched the events that led to the fabled battle at Vågen on the 2nd of August, 1665. The story has been told in a richly illustrated book that came out in early summer, in which Bagge places the battle of Vågen into its broader political context.
–It was, therefore, a mass of riches that collected at Vågen in Bergen. And there were additionally around 50 ships from merchants of the Mediterranean waiting in Vågen harbour. One can suppose that the cargo in these ships corresponds to the load on the ships from the East Indies, says Bagge.
Equal shares
–When the mission was complete, and the Dutch merchant ships were secure in English hands, Frederik and Charles would share the loot between them.
That was the plan toward the end of July, when the Dutch VOC fleet anchored in Bergen, after first having been in Bakkasund to acquire fresh provisions. Only a couple of days later, the English naval fleet also arrived, and on the evening of August 1st the English anchored in Bergen. They anchored up and took position in such a way that they blocked off the entrance to Vågen harbour. Over 60 Dutch ships loaded with enormous riches were caught in the trap, without a chance to escape.
Trapped
The English naval attack consisted of 17 ships. Of those, 10 were warships, four armed merchant ships, one smaller ship and two fireships. The number of cannons was 580, and the ships had collectively a crew of 2570 men.
Inside Vågen harbour lay the recently-anchored ships. The ten from the VOC fleet were closest to the exit, with only a short distance to the English warships. These ships had cannons on board, but they were first and foremost merchant ships, so all in all it seemed like the Englishmen would have it easy.
The cannons of Bergenhus
–That isn't how it was supposed to go, says Bjørn Arvik Bagge.
–A third party, the Bergenhus fortress, was also in play. The Englishmen had contact with the fortress to keep it inactive. The General, Claus von Ahlefeldt, requested the Englishmen to wait for a longer time to attack until he received further orders from Copenhagen. Ahlefeldt's clear message to the Englishmen and the Dutch was that the first to open fire would be attacked by the fortress. The fortifications in and around Bergen were equipped with collectively 125 cannons.
Blinded by smoke
–On the morning of the second of August, the Englishmen had enough of the attempts by the Bergenhus fortress to bide its time. At 6 AM three shots were discharged from the admiral ship Revenge, and thus the battle began. But the Bergen weather was not on the Englishmen's side. There was a southerly wind and rain. Cannon smoke was pushed back and inward to the English ships, and blinded the cannon crews.
The Dutch ships in Vågen harbour answered the English cannon fire. They had the wind at their backs, and had good visibility. After a while the English were also fired upon from the fortresses, both from Bergenhus and from Nordnes. The English fleet were thereby under fire from several sides. At ten o'clock in the morning, after three and a half hours of naval battle, the English retreated with heavy losses.
Help came
–The extent of the damage and the total dead and wounded on both sides does not match. But if we compare the different information that exists, five English ships received heavy damage, 112 died, and over 300 were injured.
–Of the Dutch side, one ship was sinking, and several others were damaged. 25 Dutch were dead and 70 injured.
Even though the English fleet had left Bergen with their tail between their legs, it did not leave the Dutch in Vågen entirely safe from a new English attack. But that did not matter. On the 20th of August, three Dutch warships came into Bergen harbor to escort 60 merchant ships out to the coast. There awaited the great Dutch admiral, Michiel Adriaanszoon de Ruyter, with a fleet of 90 ships that lead the VOC merchant ships on the way home.
Translator's Notes:
+ "Forskningsarbeidene har munnet" translates more directly as "the research work has been mouthed". I wasn't sure what to do with this turn of phrase, because this use of mouth as a verb doesn't appear in any of my dictionaries, so I settled for what seemed a decent English equivalent in the form of "the story has been told" – but suggestions for something better are welcome.
+ "lasten på skiene fra Østindia" – All of the sources I could find for the term "skiene" say that it means "skis"; I'm unsure if this is specialized terminology, a regional variation, or an error in the article's text. Insight into this would be welcome. Either way, it's clearly talking about ships.
+ "Omfanget av skadene og antallet drepte og sårede på begge sider spriker" - spriker seems to be Nynorsk or a regionalism; present form of sprikja/sprika. It can mean "sprawling" or "out of joint". Because the context is discussing differences in reported number of casualties – see the number of losses listed in the Wikipedia article* for an idea of the disparity – I decided to go with the latter meaning. Corrections or more information would be welcome.
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